I have no worries about Chipchura. I still see him as the poor man's Trevor Linden type of player. I believe he will be a good 3rd liner, with the ability to step up on a 2nd line if he needs to.

People are saying that he's just a plugger, but ironically, I think that's part of the problem with looking at him at this snapshot in time. He's NOT just a plugger. But playing 4th line minutes with 4th line linemates doesn't quite show off his full range of capabilities. Not that I think he's ready for a higher role yet either, mind you. There's nothing wrong with keeping him on the 4th line while he learns about NHL consistency, improves his faceoff performance, etc. But eventually, you'll see him start to look great there, and he'll start working his way up. It just takes time.

I have no worries about Chipchura. I still see him as the poor man's Trevor Linden type of player. I believe he will be a good 3rd liner, with the ability to step up on a 2nd line if he needs to.

People are saying that he's just a plugger, but ironically, I think that's part of the problem with looking at him at this snapshot in time. He's NOT just a plugger. But playing 4th line minutes with 4th line linemates doesn't quite show off his full range of capabilities. Not that I think he's ready for a higher role yet either, mind you. There's nothing wrong with keeping him on the 4th line while he learns about NHL consistency, improves his faceoff performance, etc. But eventually, you'll see him start to look great there, and he'll start working his way up. It just takes time.

To those that saw him play in Hamilton this year, Chipchura was ripping it up before the injury, he was playing perhaps the best I've seen him play. Since his callup he hasn't look that good but I don't think he's looked bad either other then a mistake here or there.

I suspect he will be back in Hamilton at some point when players start returning, next year is when I expect him to make the team full time. Pleks, A.Kosty, Lappy, Halak all spent parts of their first 3 pro seasons in Hamilton, seems to be working for them, hopefully Chipchura will be able to say the same thing next year or so.

I have no worries about Chipchura. I still see him as the poor man's Trevor Linden type of player. I believe he will be a good 3rd liner, with the ability to step up on a 2nd line if he needs to.

People are saying that he's just a plugger, but ironically, I think that's part of the problem with looking at him at this snapshot in time. He's NOT just a plugger. But playing 4th line minutes with 4th line linemates doesn't quite show off his full range of capabilities. Not that I think he's ready for a higher role yet either, mind you. There's nothing wrong with keeping him on the 4th line while he learns about NHL consistency, improves his faceoff performance, etc. But eventually, you'll see him start to look great there, and he'll start working his way up. It just takes time.

With most young call ups, we can see flashes of true potential. We saw it in D'Ago early on with his shot and speed, we saw a bit of it with Weber when he finally settled down, we see it with MaxPac now, we saw a little bit of it with Maxwell and his speed, we even saw a tremendous first game by Stewart last year. Most of them, however, are inconsistent and can't keep it up. But with Chipchura, in this recent call up, nothing to get excited about. I watched him attentively last night and it was like he almost wasted 10 minutes of ice time. He's slow and slow to react. There were no flashes of brilliance and no "wow" moments. Trevor Linden was a much much better player at the same age.

With most young call ups, we can see flashes of true potential. We saw it in D'Ago early on with his shot and speed, we saw a bit of it with Weber when he finally settled down, we see it with MaxPac now, we saw a little bit of it with Maxwell and his speed, we even saw a tremendous first game by Stewart last year. Most of them, however, are inconsistent and can't keep it up. But with Chipchura, in this recent call up, nothing to get excited about. I watched him attentively last night and it was like he almost wasted 10 minutes of ice time. He's slow and slow to react. There were no flashes of brilliance and no "wow" moments. Trevor Linden was a much much better player at the same age.

We agree to disagree. I see plenty of reassuring flashes with Chipchura, the way he protects the puck and cycles, is looking to make plays. He has made some errors in haste, but I believe he will get those under control. I think he will be a much better player than D'Agostini, for example, and that he is clearly ahead of Maxwell at this point. Stewart is the true plugger in the group.

I do not promote last night's game as the best evidence for my opinion, nor do I disagree that Linden was better (hence: "a poor man's"). So far the bulk of this thread underestimates Chipchura IMHO, which is ok. I'm usually the one throwing damp blankets on the prospect enthusiasm around here, and others are usually more optimistic than me, so it's fun to have the tables turned on at least one player.

The problem with Chipchura right now is that he isn't showing that he could be our regular 4th line center next year. Some players will step up from the AHL at the end of a season and show the team that even if they donn't have the space for him that year, he will be able to fill a regular spot the following year.

The problem on the 4th line isn't Chipchura IMO... its been Dago... he's the first guy to go down when the injured parties get back.

Chips is a fourth line defensive centre... I don't know what more you expect out of the guy... I think he is playing decent for his role. Hes definetely NHL calibre, but there is no room for him when we are all healthy.

Dago isnt an effective 4th line player..nobody was bashing him when he played on the top 2 lines..if pacioretty wasnt called up and dago was still in that spot he'd be very effective right now. He just isn't a fourth line player and there isnt any openings right now on our team for that position with the way maxpac has been playing.

We agree to disagree. I see plenty of reassuring flashes with Chipchura, the way he protects the puck and cycles, is looking to make plays. He has made some errors in haste, but I believe he will get those under control. I think he will be a much better player than D'Agostini, for example, and that he is clearly ahead of Maxwell at this point. Stewart is the true plugger in the group.

I do not promote last night's game as the best evidence for my opinion, nor do I disagree that Linden was better (hence: "a poor man's"). So far the bulk of this thread underestimates Chipchura IMHO, which is ok. I'm usually the one throwing damp blankets on the prospect enthusiasm around here, and others are usually more optimistic than me, so it's fun to have the tables turned on at least one player.

Maybe he's the type of player that needs to be seen live to appreciate the little things he does. Maybe those who attended last night's game can give us a better perspective of his "live" efforts, contribution and potential.

Chipper is down as soon as Koivu is back, so I don't really see the problem. There is 4 better centers than him on this team, and five if we play Begin on C.

I think his case right at the moment may be comparable to O'Byrne's. I'm not down on O'Byrne by any stretch either, I still think he has the upside to get into a top-4 role down the road. It's tougher for a defenseman than a forward. But still, at some point with some prospects you may have to bite a minor bullet for a little while as they figure out what it takes to get over the NHL hump. Others jump in and for whatever reason it clicks more quickly.

We have 6 (or 7) better defensemen than O'Byrne right now, and we'll have 4 (or 5) better centres than Chipchura. Based on the specifics of our situation, it may well mean that we can't afford even the minor bullet biting on those players right now, and that's ok... as you say, it's not a problem.

I think his case right at the moment may be comparable to O'Byrne's. I'm not down on O'Byrne by any stretch either, I still think he has the upside to get into a top-4 role down the road. It's tougher for a defenseman than a forward. But still, at some point with some prospects you may have to bite a minor bullet for a little while as they figure out what it takes to get over the NHL hump. Others jump in and for whatever reason it clicks more quickly.

We have 6 (or 7) better defensemen than O'Byrne right now, and we'll have 4 (or 5) better centres than Chipchura. Based on the specifics of our situation, it may well mean that we can't afford even the minor bullet biting on those players right now, and that's ok... as you say, it's not a problem.

I think his case right at the moment may be comparable to O'Byrne's. I'm not down on O'Byrne by any stretch either, I still think he has the upside to get into a top-4 role down the road. It's tougher for a defenseman than a forward. But still, at some point with some prospects you may have to bite a minor bullet for a little while as they figure out what it takes to get over the NHL hump. Others jump in and for whatever reason it clicks more quickly.

We have 6 (or 7) better defensemen than O'Byrne right now, and we'll have 4 (or 5) better centres than Chipchura. Based on the specifics of our situation, it may well mean that we can't afford even the minor bullet biting on those players right now, and that's ok... as you say, it's not a problem.

this is an honest and im not entirely sure if this belongs here per se but given chips role or perceived future role as a shutdown type center, if goaltending is considered to be the hardest position to come into for a youngster and defence is next (or at least i believe ive heard/seen people say that) does that mean a defensive forward would also be a difficult position to learn (not as much as d-man or goalie but more difficult then the role of an offensive forward for example? (depending on the system of course))

if the answer to the above is yes wouldnt the only solution then be patience? (as BG basically said)

this is an honest and im not entirely sure if this belongs here per se but given chips role or perceived future role as a shutdown type center, if goaltending is considered to be the hardest position to come into for a youngster and defence is next (or at least i believe ive heard/seen people say that) does that mean a defensive forward would also be a difficult position to learn (not as much as d-man or goalie but more difficult then the role of an offensive forward for example? (depending on the system of course))

if the answer to the above is yes wouldnt the only solution then be patience? (as BG basically said)

Patience can't hurt, anyway, and I don't fear that Gainey lacks for it. We have looming free agents on the checking lines this summer too, and it may well be that an opportunity for some of that minor bullet-biting I was talking about could come along more naturally next year, depending on what happens with some of our free agents.

A defensive forward who has some speed issues is probably likely to need more time to learn the adjustment tricks, perhaps, when stepping up to the next level. But players still do it. Gaustad and Bonk come to mind as somewhat sluggish lower-line centres who have been effective enough at it, and I'm sure there are others. Chipchura will find his mojo eventually, if we have the patience.

Patience can't hurt, anyway, and I don't fear that Gainey lacks for it. We have looming free agents on the checking lines this summer too, and it may well be that an opportunity for some of that minor bullet-biting I was talking about could come along more naturally next year, depending on what happens with some of our free agents.

A defensive forward who has some speed issues is probably likely to need more time to learn the adjustment tricks, perhaps, when stepping up to the next level. But players still do it. Gaustad and Bonk come to mind as somewhat sluggish lower-line centres who have been effective enough at it, and I'm sure there are others. Chipchura will find his mojo eventually, if we have the patience.

I have no worries about Chipchura. I still see him as the poor man's Trevor Linden type of player. I believe he will be a good 3rd liner, with the ability to step up on a 2nd line if he needs to.

People are saying that he's just a plugger, but ironically, I think that's part of the problem with looking at him at this snapshot in time. He's NOT just a plugger. But playing 4th line minutes with 4th line linemates doesn't quite show off his full range of capabilities. Not that I think he's ready for a higher role yet either, mind you. There's nothing wrong with keeping him on the 4th line while he learns about NHL consistency, improves his faceoff performance, etc. But eventually, you'll see him start to look great there, and he'll start working his way up. It just takes time.

C'mon, Linden was a second pick overall, and he had an immediate offencive impact with the Nucks, after that he had at least 10 very good seasons. Nothing to do with Chipchura.

He's more like a Marty Reasoner type of player to me.

Sorry but he is starting to look bad. If Chipper ever get 3rd linr ice time, it will be with a poor team, not with us.

What I find somewhat puzzling is that the good part of Chipchura's game looks to be about the same as what it was last year and even the year before. But, admittedly drawing on a small NHL sample, the other parts don't seem to have gotten better. He is still lousy on face-offs, vulnerable for lack of speed in the neutral zone, and limited offensively in an overall way.

It's hard to say. I've always been a fan of Chipchura, but his call-up has been very underwhelming for a 1st round pick in his 3rd full AHL season, 4th if you accept Gainey's calculus that winning a Calder Cup counts as a season unto itself. And it's not like he's been put in a position where he can't succeed. We can make excuses for D'Agostini playing on the 4th line that we can't make for Chipchura because his game is supposed to translate well, at minimum, to a 4th line role being given generous minutes.

Patience people, the kid was coming back from an injury and was called up.

It was a groin injury, the same injury that cost him a chunk of time in his draft year. I'm surprised more people don't bring this up, perhaps he's isn't 100% but I can also understand the disappointment as the expectations are always high for a 1st round pick. To me if you look past that, since to me, the only important factor is winning. So if the Habs are winning most of their games with a large number of their draft picks on the club and playing major roles, then I say the scouting staff did their job. Mistakes will always be made by everyone, so there will always be well if we had of picked player x or player y, we'd be even better, as some arent content with winning most of the time (not saying this club is even at that stage)

No doubt a Getzlaf or Carter would look good on this club, but A.Kostitsyn is starting to shine and the team has really turned a corner from just a short few seasons ago where it was a struggle to make the playoffs and imo a large part is due to the job that's been done at the draft table and development levels.

So hopefully Chipchura can turn into a solid player for us as it will only benefit the club and the team that has yielded Komisarek, Higgins, Kostitsyn, and Price in the first round seem to know what they are doing. Granted a Chipchura or Fischer could go in an opposite direction and it would be hard to fault Timmins and his staff since they have already done a good job getting young players on this club.

Personally I like Chipchura more and more with each year, perhaps the injuries in juniors set him back a little but to me he continues to get better each year. Granted he's not playing great right now and that's a concern but it could be related to the injury. Either way, to me he should be a cheap depth player for us next year, and if he works hard over the summer, he hopefully can land a full time job. I think people are underrating him right now due to his play but he's also not a flashy player and what I like so much is that he does all the little things right (usually) he's a very smart player that works hard and has some grit while also having some offensive skills as well. Imo he should be a 4th liner next year and I think he could put up 15-20 pts

He's doing exactly what the coaches want from him. If they wanted him to score goals, set up plays and control the flow of the game, then he'd be in a more prominent role playing with top 6 players and not the Begins and DAgostini's of the team.

The guy is more NHL ready than anyone gives him credit for. I also do not see how anyone can say he is too slow for the NHL. These must be the same people that thought Latendresse was NHL ready in 05.

IMO he's just a plugger and will amount to nothing more. I sure as hell hope that if there is anything truly happening trade wise that he is apart of it before all of his value ..if he even has any...dissipates

Thank you !!

Quote:

Originally Posted by NhlGuy

Seriously I'm not that type that if a player doesn't score 4 goals a game we need to throw him to the dogs so to speak but honestly take your glasses off for a moment is he any better than anyone currently on our 3rd or 4th line? IMO I don't think so ...so why do we need another plugger?

If only his name was Chiplatendresse, then maybe he would get a chance. He was never going to be a superstar. He plays 10 minutes a game maybe. He's just another whipping boy for the posters on this board!